Something New
by Kyaki
Summary: NaruTen. It sounded like a good idea, at first. For shoeythoughts of LJ. Rated for minimal amounts of violence. Standard disclaimers apply.


_**Something New**_  
Community/challenge: Request by Shoeythoughts; NaruTen. Kunai, Headband, and Tree.  
Also posted to: n/a

Title: Something New  
Fandom/characters: Naruto/Naruto, Tenten  
Rating: PG  
Warnings/notes: Mild violence.

-

It was something new, so he'd tried it. Once, he remembered telling someone that he'd try anything once, but he hadn't been so sure at the time on how truthful that statement was. Now, he was wishing he'd lied.

A new sparring partner, someone you know virtually nothing about. Sounds fun, right?

Sakura hardly had the time of day to eat regularly, nonetheless train with him, now that Tsunade agreed to train her, so when he heard that Neji and Lee were off somewhere, it was perfectly logical that he go ask Tenten if she wanted to train, _right_?

No, not right. Wrong. Very wrong.

-

Naruto pressed tightly against his hiding place, holding his breath as Tenten ran past the opposite side of the tree. He noted that the footsteps were a little off at one point. She'd stumbled, maybe? He couldn't take any chances by looking.

Once shed passed, he let out a sigh; when he suggested they spar, he dint expect _this_. She was relentless! She looked so quiet and sweet all the other times he'd seen her, so her attitude in battle had thrown him off terribly. Yes, he'd witnessed her fight with Temari, but that was a while back, and things changed since then.

He took another breath, calming, and put his fingers together, forming a seal. Three lookalikes appeared and they went around the tree, planning to run after where he believed Tenten to be heading.

However, when he saw her on leaning on the side of the tree opposite where he'd just been, his step faltered enough for her to take out two of his bunshin quickly, disposing of them with a slash of her kunai.

"How--"

"You forget that you're not the only one who can use bunshin, Naruto," Tenten reminded him, she was correct. Turning the kunai in her hand, she lunged for him.

He jumped backwards, and found something hit his back. Hard.

He instantly regretted the amount of force he'd put into the jump, and let out a yelp before his mind sent him into an abyss where he didnt have to deal with the dizzying pain.

-

When he woke he blinked once or twice before Tenten broke her intent stare down at him.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" she asked, a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from sitting up, which he was bound to do.

He paused, thinking about it for a moment. "Yeah, but my back hurts--"

Se sighed gratefully, taking her hand off his shoulder and putting it to her forehead, rubbing her temples. "I'm glad to hear it; you jumped backwards into my pole, and I thought you might have really hurt something." She'd had experiences with getting her back hurt, no thanks to a certain someone from the sand, and was rather sympathetic when others had a similar condition.

"Nope," he assured her, staring through the leaves in the trees above them since he didn't want to risk moving just yet. "It just hurts... where did you get a pole from anyway?" Unless Tenten had a secret and 'pole' was some freaky type of innuendo --he noted two things upon thinking that: he didn't want to know if that was the case, and he really needed to stop training under Jiraiya-- he had no idea where she'd manage to keep a pole on her.

She looked down at him, shaking her head disbeleivingly at how oblivious he could be at times. Where did she pull any weapon from? "My scrolls, Naruto," she reminded him.

"Ah, oh yeah... eh hehe..." He pushed himself up to sit, scratching the back of his neck idly. his hand shifted form his neck to the tie of his forehead protector habitually. Forever proud to wear the first thing that proved him to be a ninja, he constantly found himself checking to make sure it was tied correctly, dare it fall off and become lost during a mission.

"I didn't try to take it, if that's what you're thinking," Tenten said defensively.

Naruto was about to explain that he didn't think she had, but she wasn't headband-paranoid, so he didn't think she'd understand. He grinned, deciding to joke around. "Well, you do seem to have an obsession with shiny things."

Her hand fell to her scroll instantly, and she narrowed her eyes. "Is there a problem, Naruto?" she asked, irritably, a vein ticking on her forehead.

Jumping to his feet, he laughed and gave a grin. "Maybe." He stuck his tongue out before running.  
"Why you--" She stood hurriedly, chasing after.

The second round of their spar began without either of them noticing it.

-

"..._Again_?"

"Yes, Tenten. You'll have to forgive them! While its wonderful to see Neji and Lee continue to train together, to exclude their team mate--oh, where did I go wrong in my teachings?!" Gai yelled, dramatic movements accompanying his tears.

She blinked. While she was used to this kind of behavior from her sensei, she sometimes fell short on reactions. Eventually, as he continued to go off, she put her hands up, her wave dismissive. "Its fine, Gai-sensei," she assured him. "I know who I can train with."

He nodded, but it was obvious that he was thinking of where Lee and Neji could be found so that he could scold them.

-

A groggy Naruto answered the door, rubbing at his eye. She gave a sweet smile, though a glint of mischief could be found in her eyes. "Good morning, Naruto. I'm hoping you didn't have any plans today, because they're all canceled now."

He took a step back, trying to think up an excuse; he still hadn't recovered from yesterdays spar. "Er..."


End file.
